Data centres: Tech companies must no longer be allowed to treat their electricity and water consumption as a trade secret

Jutta Paulus MEP, Greens/EFA Group shadow rapporteur for the Energy Efficiency Regulation, comments:

“Data centres can be real power and water guzzlers. With the boom in artificial intelligence, the IT sector’s consumption of resources is rising rapidly. A single minute of an AI-generated video can consume as much electricity as an average household uses in two days and up to seven litres of clean water.

“The fact that the data boom driven by tech companies in Ireland is increasing electricity prices and already costing households hundreds of euros in additional expenses is a warning sign for the whole of Europe. This makes the European Commission’s new efficiency label all the more important. It is a step in the right direction, as tech companies must no longer be allowed to treat their electricity and water consumption as a trade secret. Transparency and binding efficiency standards are long overdue.”